novelbin Chapter 99 Core Area
Chapter 99 Core Area
Chapter 99 Core Area
They scrambled into the brightly lit area created by the searchlights, many collapsing to the ground, gasping for breath, their faces a mixture of rain, sweat, and the bewilderment of surviving a close call. However, after a brief moment of respite, a new...
A more subtle and somber atmosphere began to permeate the air.
Almost without anyone reminding them, everyone's gaze fell upon their two companions who had been injured in the attack. They were invisibly isolated at the edge of the crowd, and those around them subconsciously distanced themselves from them, their eyes filled with complex emotions—concern, sympathy, but more than anything, an undisguised wariness and fear.
The two injured survivors, one wounded in the arm and the other in the shoulder, were not seriously injured, but dark red blood was still seeping out, staining their clothes.
The two men, pale-faced, slumped against a discarded tire, feeling the strange looks directed at them. Their faces were etched with bitterness and despair. They knew better than anyone what being scratched by a zombie meant in the apocalypse. It was practically a death sentence with a reprieve.
Lieutenant Wang Lei, the on-site commander, took it all in. His brow furrowed, his sharp gaze sweeping over the two wounded soldiers. Without hesitation, he waved to the two soldiers beside him and said in a deep voice, "Take control."
Two soldiers immediately stepped forward and, with swift but not rough movements, bound the hands and feet of the two wounded soldiers with plastic cable ties. The two wounded soldiers did not resist, but silently closed their eyes, as if they had accepted their fate.
After treating the wounded, Lieutenant Wang Lei stood on slightly higher ground, his gaze sweeping over the still-shaken crowd. His voice was loud and steady, attempting to quell the panic on the scene: "Gentlemen, this is Wang Lei, the on-site commander. Due to a sudden, unknown threat, the planned perimeter clearing operation is immediately terminated."
He paused, giving everyone time to process the information, and then continued, "Now, I'll give you two choices!"
"First, hold your ground and wait until dawn tomorrow to rejoin our main force. At that time, we will arrange new, low-risk auxiliary missions, and the rewards for these missions will be increased by fifty percent."
"Second, the task will be settled as completed, and the basic reward will remain unchanged. Tomorrow during the day, we will organize vehicles to escort the survivors who chose to return back to Jiangcheng."
Faced with this choice, there was almost no suspense. More than 80% of the scavengers, including those in makeshift teams, chose the second option without hesitation.
For them, last night's experience was terrifying enough. The image of the eerie green zombie and their companion being instantly bitten to death was still haunting their minds, and no one wanted to stay in this hellish place for even a second longer.
No matter how high the reward, you have to be alive to get it. Returning to the relatively safe city of Jiangcheng as soon as possible is the most instinctive choice at this moment.
Xu Mo stood in the crowd, thought for a moment, and chose the first option: to stay.
His reasoning was practical: the battle in the core area had clearly taken an unexpected turn, to the point that even the outer perimeter was being attacked by unidentified zombies. In this chaotic situation, splitting forces to escort a large group of eager survivors back to Jiangcheng would undoubtedly divert already strained resources. Who could guarantee they wouldn't encounter even fiercer attacks on the return journey?
In contrast, staying with the main force, while potentially facing unknown risks, at least offered the backing of Jiangcheng's strongest military force. Moreover, as Wang Lei stated, those who remained would likely be assigned relatively safe "minor" tasks, with manageable risks and higher rewards.
Just as everyone made their choice and the atmosphere eased slightly, a loud "Roar—!!"
A low, hoarse roar, completely unlike a human voice, suddenly came from the edge of the crowd.
All eyes instantly focused on the two bound wounded men, whose bodies began to convulse violently. Their pale faces quickly turned ashen, veins bulging on their foreheads and necks, writhing like twisted earthworms. Their eyes became cloudy, devoid of any light, filled only with the madness and bloodlust of wild beasts. Heads bowed, they emitted incomprehensible, chilling "hoarse" sounds as they desperately struggled to break free of their restraints.
Xu Mo was somewhat surprised, not expecting the two of them to turn into zombies so quickly.
"Bang! Bang!"
Almost the instant the incident occurred, the two soldiers who had been standing guard nearby with their guns slightly lowered but their minds highly focused, raised their guns without hesitation, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
Two crisp gunshots rang out, and the unsettling screams and struggles came to an abrupt end.
The two survivors, who had just been companions, were now cold corpses, each with a shocking bullet hole in their forehead.
The soldier expressionlessly sheathed his gun and silently retreated to his post, as if he had just done something insignificant. But the scene fell into a deathly silence.
Many people looked at the two rapidly dying bodies, their eyes filled with indescribable sorrow. They may not have known the two people, but they felt a deep sense of kinship, a shared grief for their kind.
Just a short while ago, they were like us, struggling to survive, arriving here with the hope of earning reward points and improving their lives. Yet, in the blink of an eye, a single accidental injury has brought them to this end. This is the cruelty of the apocalypse; death is ever-present, and fate is chillingly unpredictable. This sorrow is both a lament for the departed and a silent fear of one's own uncertain future.
"Be on alert, engage the enemy head-on."
On the roof of the infantry fighting vehicle, the soldier on lookout suddenly sounded an urgent alarm.
Almost simultaneously, the heavy machine gun, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, roared into action.
"Thump thump thump thump—!!!"
The dull yet penetrating sound of gunfire instantly drowned out the sound of rain, and tongues of fire spewed from the muzzle, forming a deadly metallic storm that swept violently toward the edge of the searchlight beam.
More than a dozen strange zombies with dark green skin and webbed fingers were instantly engulfed by the violent firepower as soon as they stepped into the halo.
The effects of heavy machine gun bullets hitting them were horrific. Instead of the small penetrating holes of rifle bullets, they tore and shredded them, splattering thick blood and broken limbs everywhere.
One zombie's upper body was almost completely smashed, another was broken in half, and the last one had both legs broken. It struggled and roared in vain on the ground before its head was blown off by a follow-up bullet.
The overwhelming destruction brought a bloody and direct sense of security, but it also made everyone more aware of how ferocious the enemy they faced was—requiring such firepower to be effectively and quickly eliminated.
Lieutenant Wang Lei's expression turned serious. He immediately interrupted the subsequent arrangements and began to efficiently assign tasks.
"All survivors, in pairs, wearing raincoats, equipped with flashlights and walkie-talkies, are responsible for mobile surveillance within 50 meters of the camp's perimeter! If anything unusual is detected, immediately raise the alarm; do not engage the enemy without authorization."
"All personnel carrying standard-issue rifles are assigned to the frontal defense group, standing by behind cover, ready to support all guard posts at any time."
Xu Mo, carrying an AK47, was naturally assigned to the frontal defense group. He and seven or eight other survivors, also armed with various rifles, were positioned behind makeshift sandbag bunkers on the flank of the infantry fighting vehicle.
The rain continues to fall tirelessly.
The survivors, divided into groups and wearing the issued raincoats, began patrolling the designated area around the camp, their flashlights piercing the rain. The beams of their flashlights swept back and forth in the rain, like anxious eyes in the darkness.
Xu Mo and the other members of the defense team remained quietly behind cover, letting the rain slide down their cheeks, watching the dark area swept by the patrol team's beam of light, their ears catching any unusual sounds.
Time passed slowly in the tense atmosphere.
Around 1 a.m., the patrol team in the northeast direction suddenly issued an urgent warning over the walkie-talkie: "Four targets are moving very fast in the northeast direction."
Upon hearing the news, Xu Mo and the others immediately raised their guns and aimed. Soon, four dark green figures broke through the rain and roared as they rushed towards the patrol team.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A burst of chaotic gunfire erupted from behind cover. Xu Mo calmly pulled the trigger, firing two precise shots that felled two of them. Although the others were less accurate, the dense firepower riddled the remaining two with bullets, leaving them lying on their way. The two patrolling survivors collapsed to the ground, drenched in a cold sweat.
Around 3 a.m., several more zombies crept over from the direction of the abandoned warehouse to the west. They seemed to know how to use the shadows to approach stealthily, until they were less than 30 meters from the camp when they were spotted by a sharp-eyed patrolman.
This time, Xu Mo and two other skilled marksmen opened fire first. All five zombies fell within seconds, the entire process swift and clean, without causing much of a commotion.
As dawn approached, two zombies somehow bypassed the frontal guard and silently crawled out from a deep, waterlogged depression to the south, directly attacking a two-person patrol team that was there.
The two were clearly inexperienced; by the time they noticed, the zombies were already within reach.
"Watch out!" Xu Mo, who was behind cover, saw it clearly and leaned out without hesitation, firing the AK47 almost shoulder-to-shoulder.
"Bang! Bang!"
The two gunshots rang out almost simultaneously! The bullets grazed the ear of the zombie survivor and precisely pierced the heads of the two zombies, splattering the survivor's face with white brain matter.
Only after the zombie fell to the ground did the survivor react. His legs went weak, and he sat down directly in the mud, panting heavily, his eyes filled with gratitude as he looked at Xu Mo.
As the first rays of dawn struggled to pierce through the thick clouds and rain, everyone breathed a long sigh of relief. Incredibly, after the chaos on the outskirts last night and several attacks in the middle of the night, this makeshift camp had suffered no further casualties.
After daybreak, a quick headcount was taken and equipment was packed. Those who chose to return and those who chose to stay boarded the vehicles.
During roll call, Xu Mo noticed that the number of survivors was significantly less than when he arrived yesterday; at a rough estimate, at least a dozen people had been eliminated.
Most of them remained forever in the dark factory area from last night, but Xu Mo also saw that familiar figure—Feng Dayong.
Although the man looked somewhat tired, he was unharmed and in relatively good condition. Seeing Xu Mo looking at him, he forced a somewhat stiff but kind smile and nodded, as if to say, "Still alive, that's good."
The convoy set off again, this time heading towards the core area of the industrial zone. Whether returning to Jiangcheng or staying to continue the mission, everyone needed to first reach the assembly point near the core area for unified arrangements and handover.
The atmosphere on the road remained tense. Although it was broad daylight, the rain hadn't stopped, and visibility was still poor. Less than ten minutes into the convoy, they encountered their first wave of wandering zombies, about seven or eight in total, a mix of ordinary zombies and those strange, dark green ones.
There was no need for the survivors behind to take action; the heavy machine gun on the roof of the armored vehicle leading the way roared again, like the scythe of death, easily tearing the group of zombies to pieces.
They then encountered two or three smaller waves of zombies, which were easily dealt with by the armored vehicles that had advanced, using their powerful firepower. This put the survivors in the vehicles at ease; Jiangcheng's heavy firepower did indeed create a sense of a safe zone.
The car drove for about half an hour on the dilapidated factory roads, passing through an area that had clearly been the site of fierce fighting—craters, charred remains, and collapsed walls everywhere—before finally coming to a slow stop in a large area that appeared to be the central square of the industrial zone.
"Everyone, get off the bus and assemble."
Xu Mo followed the others off the bus. When his gaze swept across the entire assembly point, even with his composure, he couldn't help but gasp.
There were many vehicles of all kinds parked here, many of which were badly damaged, with large areas of broken windows and shocking scratches and dents on their bodies.
What's even more alarming is the arrival of other survivor teams. Compared to Xu Mo's group, which only lost a dozen or so members, some teams suffered devastating losses. Their numbers were sparse, with almost half their members gone. Many were disheveled, their eyes vacant, and their faces etched with lingering fear, clearly having experienced an unimaginable nightmare.
In comparison, Jiangcheng was in a better position, with its personnel still working diligently to build defenses and inspect equipment. However, when Xu Mo's gaze fell upon those steel behemoths, his heart sank once again.
Many main battle tanks showed huge, shocking dents and tearing scratches on their thick composite armor. One tank's turret even appeared strangely twisted and deformed, as if it had been forcibly twisted by some immense force. The infantry fighting vehicles were in similar condition, with their side armor plates torn open and visible traces of reactive armor activation.
Xu Mo simply couldn't imagine what kind of enemy the ground forces in the core area had encountered after having absolute air superiority and carrying out several bombings, in order to inflict such heavy damage on these steel fortresses.
The air support did not seem to have completely eliminated the threat, demonstrating the ferocity of the ground battle. The core of this Red Star Industrial Zone was far more dangerous and bizarre than he had previously imagined.